ex-library (ex-lib; x-lib) - Identifies a book that has once been the property of an institutional library and which, hopefully, has been legitimately removed. Usually there are noticeable marks and stamps on the binding or in the text, library card pockets, and it often shows considerable wear and/or rebinding with plain buckram. For collectors, it is worth considerably less monetarily than a book that has not been owned by an institutional library.